The Last Straw on the Great Barrier Reef
Source Reduction Plan (SRP) Overview
Name of SRP
Partners Delivering the SRP
- Tangaroa Blue Foundation
- Wet Tropics Healthy Waterways
- Cairns Regional Council
- Cairns and Far North Environment Centre (CAFNEC) Marine Response Team
- The Last Straw Australia – Founder, Nicole Nash (Department of Environment)
Location
Commercial Charter Vessels working on The Great Barrier Reef in the Wet Tropics region:
- Cairns
- Port Douglas Region
Photo 1
Evidence of the issue
Photo 2
Evidence of SRP resources
Photo 3
Evidence of positive outcomes
Overall Goals & Background
Targeted Debris
Plastic straws – focusing on charter boats operating on the Great Barrier Reef.
Why is the SRP needed?
Single-use plastics such as straws, plastic shopping bags and plastic cutlery are often found in the marine environment and regularly at beach clean-ups around the world. Not only do plastics pose a threat of entanglement to marine life, they also can absorb toxins from the environment and then pass them onto organisms if they are later consumed.
It is estimated that Australians use 10,000,000 straws every day! Nearly all of them get used once before being thrown away. Straws (like any plastic) are durable, long-lived, and can survive longer than any human being on earth today.
Logistics
Timeline and Project Goals
General Timeline
- 2019: Tangaroa Blue held an SRP Workshop in Cairns, where the local community suggested that plastic straws are becoming an issue for marine debris in the local area.
- 2019-2021: Tangaroa Blue staff, Nicole Nash, and local community members promoted and campaigned for a plastic straw ban in QLD.
- 2021: On the 1st of September 2021, the supply of single-use plastic straws, stirrers, plates, bowls, cutlery, polystyrene takeaway containers, and cups was banned in QLD. This ban is implemented under the Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011.
The aim of “Last Straw on the GBR” was to involve all commercial reef vessels in the Wet Tropics area to work towards making the GBR plastic straw-free.
Tangaroa Blue also engaged with local businesses in the same region who wished to contribute to making their business more sustainable and eco-friendly. Local businesses were encouraged to join a pledge, with the incentive being to reduce company costs by not having to purchase straws and limit waste on board. Doing so would contribute to a more sustainable community and help to educate visitors from all over the world about how harmful plastics are if they end up in the world’s oceans.
The focus was on both north and south of Cairns to get the majority of charter vessels operating on the GBR to remove plastic straws from their vessels. We supported the aim to extend this SRP to any resorts operating on islands in the GBR to remove plastic straws from their restaurants and bars and replace them with biodegradable paper straws, or remove them completely.
Measuring Success
The momentum of this SRP relied on the positive engagement of the community after the SRP workshop was held in 2019 in Cairns. Typically, commercial reef tour boat staff & customers want to actively participate in the conservation and protection across the Great Barrier Reef.
Local businesses were encouraged to join the pledge with the incentive being to reduce company costs by not having to purchase straws, limit waste on board, contribute to a more sustainable community, and educate visitors from all over the world how harmful plastics are if they end up in the world’s oceans.
Tangaroa Blue Foundation evaluated the success by providing businesses who joined with an online survey to fill out
Data Collection & Reporting
All participants received the request to provide feedback via the below survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XF53QG7
- Reporting
- Questionnaire and commercial papers
Results and Reflections
Positive Outcomes
The Last Straw on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) was the official campaign to eradicate single-use plastic straws in venues operating on and around the GBR. Launched in 2016, by Marine Biologist Nicole Nash, the movement had 377 venues registered, resulting in over 22.5 million fewer plastic straws since launching!
54 commercial tour operators with multiple vessels, 34 resorts, hotels & accommodations, 21 venues, and 130 bars and cafes committed to either registering to remain straw-free or switching to be straw-free, forever!
Social Media:
Facebook – 2 posts with 5997 reaches and 188 engagements
YouTube video (with 3600 views)
The Last Straw:
Funding
$5000 including In-Kind Support
Challenges & Improvements
There were challenges in obtaining timely survey responses.
Future Opportunities
Nicole Nash’s campaign has now been made redundant, which she is very happy about.
Nicole delivered the statistics of the campaign at the Public Hearing in Cairns on 4 August 2020 and has been advised by committee members that this assisted in the passing of the Waste Reduction and Recycling (Plastic Items) Amendment Bill 2021– Officially banning single use plastic items in Queensland.
The rest is easy – remain straw-free and you will stay on the ‘official straw-free’ register and receive free promotional support from the campaign. But most importantly – YOU are helping reduce the consumption of plastic in the world and educating others.
